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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445203">World of Survivors</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EMotionL/pseuds/EMotionL'>EMotionL</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), Batwoman (TV 2019), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>But those numbers are definitely going to go down as we progress, F/F, F/M, Gen, I hope you’re not too attached, If you are... sorry, M/M, There are literally too many characters and relationships to tag, zombie apocalypse AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:15:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,867</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EMotionL/pseuds/EMotionL</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An unknown pathogen finds it’s way to Earth-Prime, causing even the most powerful of the planet’s heroes to go from protecting the innocent, to struggling to even protect those closest to them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. He Got Away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Got inspired by OreoAmbitions’ zombie apocalypse au and decided to try and give it a whirl myself.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How did you say this happened again?”</p>
<p>Cisco’s paranoid question came from the doorway of the med-bay. He hadn’t moved any closer since Allegra had come in sporting a new injury on her shoulder.</p>
<p>The young meta flashed him a sideways glare while Scott looked over the wound, “Like I told Caitlin and Scott when I got here, I saw some random guy snatch a purse off some lady’s chair. I chased after him, ducked down an alley, and some hopped-up junkie jumped me outta nowhere, and bit me.” She poked tentatively at the bite mark, wincing at the pain, “Fucker certainly had some issues. Nearly took a chunk out of my neck, and the thief got away.”</p>
<p>Scott patted her uninjured shoulder gently, “Hey, don’t beat yourself up over that. Your life isn’t worth whatever was in that purse. Stuff can be replaced, you can’t.”</p>
<p>He gently dabbed at the teeth marks, and Allegra hissed in pain. He sighed, “I know. This is gonna hurt for a bit while this heals, but whatever that guy was on, it’s doing a number on your shoulder.”</p>
<p>Caitlin nodded as she came over with her tablet, showing the young meta her vital monitors, “Yeah. In the hour since he bit you, your body’s been on overdrive trying to get rid of anything in the bite, and it’s still gotten infected.”</p>
<p>Allegra looked at her worriedly, “Am I gonna be okay?”</p>
<p>Caitlin smiled and nodded, placing a delicate hand on her shoulder, “You’re gonna be fine, though you’re gonna have to hang back in the superhero department until you’re all better.”</p>
<p>She made a dissatisfied face, but nodded with a small sound.</p>
<p>Scott continued on his warpath against the bacteria in Allegra’s bite, only raising his eyes from it at the sound of Cisco’s rapidly tapping foot.</p>
<p>“Something on your mind, Cisco?”</p>
<p>He met the techie’s eyes, and he nodded slightly, “Yeah. I’m concerned about how close you are to her, and your complete obliviousness to what’s actually happening.”</p>
<p>Scott stopped his work, “What’re you on about?”</p>
<p>“Seriously?” Cisco asked, “She was bitten— <em>bitten</em> —by some rando junkie. The bite’s already infected after only an hour, her meta-healing is on overdrive, and still doing jack.” He threw his arms halfway into the air, “This is classic zombie movie stuff, man.”</p>
<p>Scott looked at him unimpressed, “You think Allegra was bitten by a zombie, and you’re worried she’s gonna turn us all.”</p>
<p>“Yes!”</p>
<p>Scott stood straight up, sighing as he shook his head, “Man, I swear, I’m gonna get Kamilla to lock all your horror movies in a safe until you can differentiate between reality and fiction.” He waved at Allegra, “Zombies aren’t real, and she’s gonna be just fine. She just needs time to heal, and—“</p>
<p>“Uh, Scott?” Caitlin interrupted him, and he looked to face her. She pointed hesitantly at Allegra, who’s head had slumped downward.</p>
<p>A quiet rasp escaped Allegra, and Scott stepped back to go around her.</p>
<p>“Oh, shit.” Cisco said worriedly, rushing forward to make sure their friend was alright.</p>
<p>Before Scott could come around, Cisco was in front of her.</p>
<p>“RHAGH!” Allegra made a gurgling, rasping sound as her head snapped up, and she lunged forward at Cisco.</p>
<p>Who screamed.</p>
<p>“AAAAAHHHHHH, OH MY GOD!”</p>
<p>Allegra and Cisco went down, her mouth wide open as she went for his neck, all the while Cisco was still screaming.</p>
<p>“AAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE—...” He trailed off as he opened his eyes in confusion, looking down at Allegra on top of him.</p>
<p>She was shuddering slightly, and worry was still on Cisco’s face until she turned her head up to look at him, “BOO!”</p>
<p>“AH!” Cisco yelped, and he took a moment before he realized that it’d been a trick.</p>
<p>Allegra picked herself up off the ground, and Cisco pointed at her, “Hey! That was <em>not cool</em>!”</p>
<p>Her smile didn’t waver, “That was hilarious.” She looked over to Caitlin and Scott, “Please tell me the cameras caught that. That scream is gonna be my new ringtone.”</p>
<p>Scott laughed along with her and nodded, reaching down to help Cisco to his feet, “It’ll be on there. I’ll see if I can send you the clip.”</p>
<p>She pumped her fist in the air, “Yes- whoa.” She stumbled slightly, catching herself on the bed, “Whoa, that’s a head rush. Got up too fast there.”</p>
<p>Caitlin, still recovering from her giggles, helped her back to sitting, “Careful there. Smacking your head on the floor may not make the bite worse, but it isn’t gonna do you any favors either.”</p>
<p>Cisco pointed to Allegra as he brushed his shirt off, “That ain’t right.”</p>
<p>She grinned at him, “No, but it was fun.”</p>
<p>Caitlin had her sit back on the bed, and Scott finished his work by sticking an antiseptic wrap around her shoulder on the bite, “We’re gonna have you stay here for the night, okay? Just so Gideon can monitor your vitals, and alert us if something changes.”</p>
<p>Allegra sighed out her nose, but nodded, “Alright. Can I at least have a bit more comfortable of a bed to sleep on? This thing is just... it reminds me of the dentist.”</p>
<p>Scott laughed, “Yeah. I’m sure we can find something else for you to sleep on.”</p>
<p>“I can do that.” They ground turned as Nash made himself known in the doorway. He shrugged as they looked at him, “Not like I’ve got a lot of other places to be.”</p>
<p>Scott smiled to him with a nod, “Thanks, Nash. We should have some extra bedding and things in storage. Right beside the generator room.”</p>
<p>Nash nodded with a two finger salute, backing out of the room and walking off to find the room in question.”</p>
<p>Scott secured the bandage around Allegra’s shoulder with medical tape before patting it gently, “Okay, now we just need you not to mess with it for the night. We’ll check it again in the morning, and hopefully the infection will have subsided by then.”</p>
<p>“And if it hasn’t?”</p>
<p>Caitlin came around in front of her, “If it hasn’t, then we’ll start you on some antibiotics, and we’ll maybe contact some friends in National City to see if they’ve got any ideas.”</p>
<p>Scott nodded, “But don’t worry. We’ll have it cleared up in no time.”</p>
<p>Allegra nodded slowly, and Scott placed a hand on Caitlin’s shoulder as he stepped back, “We’ll see you in the morning, okay?”</p>
<p>Allegra nodded again, “Okay. Bring me a coffee?”</p>
<p>Caitlin smiled, “We’ll see what we can do.”</p>
<p>She and Cisco both followed Scott out of the med-bay, and she called back, “Sleep well.”</p>
<p>Allegra held up a thumbs up as she looked like she was trying to figure out how to make herself comfy.</p>
<p>—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—</p>
<p>Scott walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom with his toothbrush in his mouth, seeing Caitlin’s eyes still glued on her tablet. Her brow was creased as she looked like she was trying to work out a problem, and every now and again her tongue would poke out from the corner of her mouth before retreating back in again.</p>
<p>He pulled the brush from his mouth, “Y’know, if you keep making that face, it’s gonna freeze that way.”</p>
<p>She didn’t look up at him, but Frost’s icy voice answered, “So will yours if you interrupt again.”</p>
<p>Scott didn’t take the threat seriously. It was like Frost’s way of flirting... sort of.</p>
<p>He retreated back into the bathroom and spat out the toothpaste in his mouth, choosing to skip mouthwash just for the night.</p>
<p>Caitlin looked up at him as he came back out of the bathroom, and he tilted his head in curiosity as he got into bed.</p>
<p>“Whatcha looking at?”</p>
<p>She blew out a short breath before tilting the tablet to face him, “Allegra’s test results.”</p>
<p>“Why? Did something change?”</p>
<p>She shook her head, “No. I haven’t gotten any updates from Gideon, but...” she bit her lip nervously, shaking her head again and shrugging, “I don’t know. Something just... it’s not sitting well with me.”</p>
<p>Scott scoffed quietly, “Please tell me you’re not feeding into Cisco’s paranoid zombie delusions?”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes at him and lightly smacked his arm, “Of course I’m not. I’m anxious, not crazy.” She sighed, “No, I just can’t shake this weird feeling in the back of my mind.”</p>
<p>Scott sighed quietly as he leaned towards her, gently pulling the tablet from her fingers with one hand while the other tangled itself in her hair. She turned to meet his lips out of instinct, letting him take the device and use his powers to set it down on the dresser across the room.</p>
<p>Scott’s other hand intertwined his fingers with hers, and she spoke between kisses.</p>
<p>“Y’know—... One—... Of these days—... I’m not just—... Gonna—... Let you—... Distract me—... With kissing.”</p>
<p>Scott pulled back from her, smirking while looking more at her lips than her eyes, “Maybe you will, but I have my doubts, Snowflake.”</p>
<p>She laughed at him as she reached up to cup his face, “Oh, shut up.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The First to Fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>2:37 am</em>
</p><p>
  <em>BLEBEEPBLEBEEPBLEBEEP</em>
</p><p>Scott was roused by the shrill ring of his phone alarm. He grasped for it off his bedside table in a half-focused state to look at the screen; squinting at the bright light.</p><p>
  <strong>ALERT: VITAL SIGNS LOW</strong><br/>
<strong>ALERT: VITAL SIGNS LOW</strong>
</p><p>Like someone had hit a switch, Scott was fully awake in an instant, springing up from bed and waking his wife.</p><p>“Cait. Cait, we gotta go.”</p><p>“Wha-? What? What’s going on?” She was more awake at the sudden interruption than he was, but still a tad groggy as she lifted her head to look at him.</p><p>“Allegra’s vitals are crashing.” He told her, snatching his clothes from the day before and pulling them on as quickly as he could.</p><p>The information spring her into gear just as fast, and she scrambled into clothes before grabbing onto him.</p><p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p><p>The pair landed in the Cortex, running into the med-bay to find a very distressed Nash holding Allegra’s hand.</p><p>The young woman was seizing and convulsing violently, and they quickly realized Nash was more trying to keep her from flailing off the bed.</p><p>“What happened?!” Caitlin exclaimed as she and Scott rushed over, and Nash shook his head.</p><p>“I— I don’t know. She was fine— we were talking a minute ago, and I went to grab her a phone charger, and then the whole room just went ballistic.”</p><p>Scott quickly looked over Allegra’s chart just before it went to hell as Nash and Caitlin tried to get her better restrained, and his heart dropped, “This doesn’t make sense! There’s no indication of anything going wrong, but now it’s like her entire body’s in shutdown. It’s poisoning her!”</p><p>“Scott, if we don’t stabilize her, we’re gonna lose her!”</p><p>He turned back to the pair and their seizing friend, his hands buzzing with mild electricity. He came around and pressed his palms against Allegra’s abdomen, working his powers to try and get her condition under control.</p><p>“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!” Allegra screamed as he touched her, thrashing even more wildly like the contact had set her on fire.</p><p>“Let her go! You’re hurting her!” Nash cried out.</p><p>Scott’s hands were off her before he’d finished his plea.</p><p>Allegra’s thrashing didn’t lessen, though she did stop screaming.</p><p>“Scott, hold her.” Caitlin ordered him to take her arm as she sprinted over to one of the cabinets.</p><p>She pulled open several drawers until she found what she was looking for, pulling the cap off the syringe and rushing back to plunge it into Allegra’s calf.</p><p>The young meta’s convulsions continued for a moment, but gradually they slowed down, until she she was no longer moving.</p><p>
  <em>eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—</em>
</p><p>Scott looked up at the shrill, continuous sound that was coming from the monitor, showing Allegra’s heartbeat at a flatline.</p><p>“Jesus, Cait, what did you give her?” He asked with a start as he charged his hands together.</p><p>Caitlin looked just as shocked as he did, “Diazepam. I— she was seizing, I thought—“</p><p>“Clear!”<br/>
<em>BZZAT</em></p><p>Nash’s hands left Allegra’s arm as Scott tried to restart her heart, her body twitching from the shock.</p><p>No response. Scott charged again.</p><p>“Clear!”<br/>
<em>BZZAT</em></p><p>Nothing.</p><p>“God dammit, Allegra, don’t do this.” He muttered, folding his hands over each other as he started compressions.</p><p>
  <em>one, two, three, four- breath</em>
</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>
  <em>one, two, three, four- breath</em>
</p><p>“C’mon, Garcia. C’mon.” He was practically begging under his breath now, but still she didn’t stir.</p><p>
  <em>one, two, three, four- breath</em>
</p><p>He’d just started the fourth set when he felt Caitlin’s hand gently settle on his arm, and his motions slowed to a stop.</p><p>He met her eyes— tears welling up in their corners as she barely held her composure —and looked over to the heart rate monitor.</p><p>The dull sound of the flatline continued, cutting through the silence that threatened to swallow them.</p><p>“She’s gone, Scott...” her voice was barely a whisper, “She’s gone...”</p><p>He looked down at his shaking hands, reeling at the fact that the young woman they’d been teaching to hone her powers was lying dead in front of him, despite his efforts to save her.</p><p>“We did what we could.” Caitlin seemed just as shaken, and Nash...</p><p>Nash just looked broken. He’d seen his daughter— and now her doppelgänger —both die in front of him. He likely blamed himself for Allegra’s fate just as much as he did for Maya’s.</p><p>Scott’s hands slowly left Allegra’s chest, and he felt Caitlin latch onto him for comfort— both his and her own.</p><p>For a while, the three could only stare at their deceased friend, until a small bit of red under the collar of her shirt caught Scott’s attention.</p><p>He slowly pulled back the neckline, finding the bandage he’d put there earlier, soaked in dark red blood.</p><p>On a hunch he took the bandage off, and he nearly gagged at what was underneath.</p><p>The bite mark had festered. The swelling had tripled within the teethmarks, with the damaged flesh now a sickly, yellowish-green color. Extending outward from the wound were dark, winding trails through her veins that made them look like the tendrils of some unholy creature.</p><p>“Jesus Christ...” he dropped the bandage on the medical cart and covered his mouth with the back of his hand, “What the—... fucking hell.”</p><p>He stepped back from Caitlin came around to get a better look, gasping in horror at the sight.</p><p>Nash looked to them, “What the hell could do something like that? I thought she said it was some junkie?”</p><p>“She did.” Scott managed, “Whoever it was must’ve been some kind of meta, or—“ he stopped, shaking his head. He looked to Caitlin, “We need to call Cisco. If that guy is still out on the street, people could be in danger.”</p><p>Caitlin’s eyes didn’t leave Allegra’s body, and she didn’t react.</p><p>“Cait.” He placed a gentle hand on her arm, and she jumped.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Call Cisco. We need to find the guy who did this, quickly.”</p><p>She swallowed once, nodding before she went off.</p><p>Scott looked to Nash, his eyes also locked onto the body in front of them.</p><p>“You know this wasn’t your fault, right?”</p><p>Nash barely nodded, sniffling quietly, “I know... it’s just that I’ve lost her twice now...”</p><p>Scott gently patted his arm, saying nothing else as he walked out of the med-bay.</p><p>He pulled out his phone, quickly scrolling through his contacts and hitting call.</p><p>The rest of the team needed to know.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Action and Reaction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stunned silence was the general reaction from everyone.</p>
<p>That, and disbelief that their friend, who’d been alive and joking with them not even six hours earlier, was now lifeless under a sheet in the med-bay.</p>
<p>Being the leader he was, Barry tried to remain the pillar for them to lean on, “How did it happen?”</p>
<p>Scott crossed his arms as he leaned back against the Cortex console, “The bite turned septic. Whatever the guy that bit her did, it was able to shut her body down piece by piece in a way that only became noticeable once it was too late.” He shook his head, disappointed in his lack of knowledge. His lack of action, “We’re running every test we can think of on the bacteria from the wound and her blood, but nothing’s jumped out at us yet.”</p>
<p>Barry nodded, and there was silence again before Iris lifted her head, “Did she have any family? Do we need to contact anyone?”</p>
<p>Caitlin shook her head, “She‘s been estranged from her family for a while. I’m not even sure where they are, or how to contact them.” She glanced at Scott, “When we talked about it last, she gave the impression that they weren’t exactly the ‘drop-everything-and-come-running’ kind of people.”</p>
<p>Iris nodded, “Even so, we should still try.”</p>
<p>Cisco nodded across the room, getting up and walking behind the console, “I’ll see if I can find a number for anyone.”</p>
<p>Scott turned to him as he sat down, “Before you do, we need you to check something.”</p>
<p>He raised a brow, “What’s that?”</p>
<p>“See if you can find surveillance from where she got jumped. If there’s a meta that can do this, they need to be stopped before anyone else is killed.”</p>
<p>Cisco nodded, and his fingers started flying over the keys.</p>
<p>“Did she say where it happened?”</p>
<p>“Uh, Glawson ave, I think. Next to the Super-Juice.”</p>
<p>Cisco nodded again, “And... got it.”</p>
<p>The feed came up on the Cortex screens, showing an empty alley for the first few moments.</p>
<p>A flash of motion crossed from the bottom of the screen as the purse-snatcher Allegra had been tailing ran through, turning left out of sight a few feet down.</p>
<p>The group expected to see Allegra following just behind, but were shocked by something else instead.</p>
<p>A bright flare of blue came from the top right corner of the screen, shifting into a swirling mass of fluid-like material hovering a few feet in the air.</p>
<p>A breach.</p>
<p>“What the...?”</p>
<p>Cisco didn’t get the chance to finish as the footage showed a man being thrown out of the portal.</p>
<p>The man was unkempt to say the least. He looked like he’d been rolling around in a landfill for a week before the breach had spat him out there.</p>
<p>And that wasn’t all.</p>
<p>“Are his legs... broken?” Caitlin asked hesitantly.</p>
<p>The man’s legs looked like they’d been snapped just below his knees, with everything from the knees down flopping uselessly as the rest of him flailed.</p>
<p>As fast as the breach had opened, it closed again, leaving the broken man on the other side of it.</p>
<p>He shuffled around, managing to almost bury himself amongst the garbage in the alley as Allegra finally made an appearance onscreen.</p>
<p>She came from the bottom, stopping at the fork in the path before looking down the left side.</p>
<p>She didn’t notice the man until he’d lunged, somehow having enough strength in his arms to reach Allegra’s shoulders when her back was turned.</p>
<p>The team watched as the man wasted no time in sinking his teeth into her shoulder. They saw the silent image of her screaming in pain before landing an elbow to the man’s head, and knocking him back to the ground.</p>
<p>Allegra held her hand over the bite wound, checking it’s severity before she looked down the alley the thief had gotten away down.</p>
<p>The man that’d come through the breach was still flailing on the ground, and Allegra used the opportunity to escape back down the way she’d come from.</p>
<p>The footage froze, and Cisco smacked his hand against the desk, “We finally get confirmation that the rest of the multiverse still exists, and it’s in the form of killing our friend.”</p>
<p>Barry turned to him, “Play the rest. Where does this guy end up going?”</p>
<p>Cisco continued the recording.</p>
<p>The man who’d come through the breach continued flailing for a few minutes more before he seemed to focus on something out of frame, dragging himself towards whatever it was in the direction of the escaped thief.</p>
<p>Barry looked at Cisco again, “Are there any other cameras in that alley? Can we see where he went?”</p>
<p>A quick search later, and Cisco shook his head, “No. The closest cameras in the area were across the street, and pointed in the wrong direction. Wherever this guy went, it could take days to find him.”</p>
<p>Scott bit the inside of his cheek, “We don’t have days. Allegra was affected in six hours, and she had her meta-healing working overtime. If we don’t act fast a whole lot more people are gonna die.”</p>
<p>Barry shrugged, “What d’you want us to do, Scott? We’ve got no idea where this guy could be. He could be anywhere in the city by now.”</p>
<p>“Exactly, so we need to get moving, now.”</p>
<p>Barry sighed through his nose, but he nodded after a moment, “Okay. Cisco, Iris, Kamilla— you three go over every bit of outside security footage within a ten block radius.”</p>
<p>Kamilla blinked, “That’ll take hours.”</p>
<p>Barry nodded, “That’s why there’s three of you.” He looked over to Caitlin, “Cait, how fast do you think those tests will be done?”</p>
<p>She shrugged, “Uh, an hour? Hour and a half at most?”</p>
<p>He nodded again, “Okay. If anything out of the ordinary shows up, let us know the instant you do.”</p>
<p>She nodded, walking back into the med-bay.</p>
<p>Finally Barry looked at Scott, “You and I are heading out there. See if we can find something where Allegra was attacked that can help us find this guy.”</p>
<p>Scott tilted his head, “If he’s from another Earth, that could prove more difficult than we think.”</p>
<p>He nodded, “Yeah. But like you said, we need to move fast.” He patted Scott’s arm, “C’mon.”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>The two heroes were gone in a blink, a brief crackle of electricity their only trail before it too was gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Piecing it Together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Barry and Scott didn’t need super-suits to look for evidence. If anything, wearing their normal clothes gave them more of an advantage.</p>
<p>People were less likely to notice them poking around for a lead, and their killer wouldn’t be able to recognize them.</p>
<p>“How can someone literally drag themselves away from a place, and leave no trace that they were ever there?” Barry half-whispered to himself.</p>
<p>Scott was thinking the same. They’d been in the alley fifteen minutes already, and they’d found nothing to give them a lead. They’d not even found anything that could tell them the guy had even been there.</p>
<p>He shook his head, “I dunno, man.” He stood up from his kneel, “I mean, we already know the guy was here. It’s not like he was some apparition. There’s gotta be—“ he stopped as something glistening caught his eye, kneeling down and pulling up a half crushed cardboard box with a pile of trash atop it.</p>
<p>Under the garbage, and sticking to it, was some strange substance.</p>
<p>It was black, at at least semi-fluid as it dripped from where it’d soaked into the cardboard back to where it had condensed.</p>
<p>“You find something?” Barry asked, and Scott tilted his head.</p>
<p>“Maybe. You got a pen or something?”</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah.” Barry patted at his jacket before pulling a small pen from inside, “Here.”</p>
<p>Scott nodding in thanks as he pushed the cardboard aside, revealing the small puddle of liquid. He gently prodded at it with the pen.</p>
<p>The substance’s surface didn’t give right away, proving resistance until Scott used more force.</p>
<p>He raised the pen, and the fluid seemed to slowly stretch with the movement, until it disconnected, some still left on the end.</p>
<p>“Is that... blood?” Barry asked.</p>
<p>Scott raised the covered end to his nose, taking a small sniff before he looked closer, “I think... maybe it was? But, it’s almost like it’s rotten . It’s not even really blood anymore, it’s more like tar, or—“ he shook his head, “But that doesn’t make sense, because blood doesn’t rot. The water evaporates and the cells do decay, but it doesn’t end up like this.”</p>
<p>Barry crossed his arms, “So our guy, whoever he is, either has powers that make his blood look like melted tires...”</p>
<p>Scott nodded, “Or he’s infected with something too. In which case, finding him is even more important than before.</p>
<p>
  <em>bvvvvt bvvvvt</em>
</p>
<p>Scott handed Barry back his pen— which he had the good idea to stick in a plastic bag —before answering his phone, “Hey, Cait. Anything?”</p>
<p><em>”Get your asses back here, now!”</em> The voice on the other end was Frost’s, not Caitlin’s.</p>
<p>“Why? What happened?”</p>
<p>
  <em>”Just do it!”</em><br/>
<em>click</em>
</p>
<p>Frost hung up on him, and Scott looked to Barry, “Back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Double time.”</p>
<p>The speedster nodded, and they burned off.</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. First to Rise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>20 minutes earlier</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>Caitlin heard Barry and Scott speed out of the Cortex as she walked to the far wall of med-bay, checking over the tests they had running.</p>
<p>Nash was still sat beside Allegra’s body, having moved very little in the time since her death. Seeing that the tests still had a ways to go before any results came in, Caitlin turned her attention to him.</p>
<p>She pulled a chair over, taking a seat next to him, but saying nothing.</p>
<p>She sat with him patiently, waiting for when he was ready to talk.</p>
<p>“She was just like her, y’know.” He said in a hoarse voice, “I guess that makes sense, being her doppelgänger, but she was just like Maya.”</p>
<p>Caitlin glanced down, “She was lucky to get to have you while she did.” Nash looked to her, and she met his eyes, “She’s got no other family besides her cousin, and we saw how well that turned out.” She looked to the sheet, “She might’ve been a little snippy about it, but she did appreciate you looking out for her, even if the parental aspect wasn’t necessary.”</p>
<p>Nash scoffed quietly, running his right thumb over his left knuckles, “Thank you, Snow.”</p>
<p>
  <em>ba-ding</em>
</p>
<p>The computer that was running the tests chirped, and Caitlin left Nash’s side to check.</p>
<p>The data was more or less just a more scientific way of saying what they already knew. That the bacteria was advanced enough for metahuman healing abilities to be almost useless, and that the infection had set in faster than any known contagion.</p>
<p>The last one was to be expected, what with the perpetrator being from another Earth.</p>
<p>Just before she was about to close the data however, a different part of it caught her eye, and she expanded the information.</p>
<p>Gideon had created a simulation based on the bacteria’s effectiveness and makeup.</p>
<p>“Jesus...” Caitlin whispered as she watched, and Nash walked over to have a look for himself.</p>
<p>“What is it?”</p>
<p>She didn’t take her eyes off the screen, “I knew the bacteria replicated quickly, but according to this, from the moment it came in contact with Allegra’s bloodstream, it was already working to shut her body down, starting with her immune system.”</p>
<p>Nash looked at her curiously, “So, you’re saying that—“</p>
<p>“We were treating her half an hour after the attack, and even by that point it was already far too late.” She shook her head, “Allegra was dead the moment she was bitten.”</p>
<p>
  <em>twack</em>
</p>
<p>“Ah!” Caitlin yelped as something hit the floor, and she and Nash spun around.</p>
<p>Allegra’s phone was on the ground under the table, cracked now from hitting the tiled floor.</p>
<p>Caitlin looked at it as she calmed her heartbeat down, taking a breath before she leaned down to pick the phone up.</p>
<p>Her fingertips just barely grazed over the glass before she was suddenly shoved forward by Nash.</p>
<p>“Caitlin, watch ou- AGH!” He exclaimed, his sentence changing into a pained cry at it’s end.</p>
<p>“RRRAAAAGGHH!”</p>
<p>Caitlin looked back to ask what the hell he was thinking, and terror clutched at her.</p>
<p>Allegra was was sitting up— though slightly hunched over —but there was no joy in that fact.</p>
<p>Her eyes were glazed over to the point of almost being pure white, and the dark, winding veins that they’d found stretching from her wound had now reached across her face, neck and collarbone, and they likely stretched further across her body as well.</p>
<p>She had latched onto Nash quite literally, her teeth sunk into his left forearm almost to the point where they’d disappeared into his flesh.</p>
<p>
  <em>WHUMP</em>
</p>
<p>Nash pulled his fist back, and swung at her, knocking her off him and onto the floor. He quickly helped Caitlin get to her feet, and the pair scrambled out of the room.</p>
<p>“Gideon! Lock down the med-bay!” Caitlin shouted, and the doors slammed shut behind them, sealing with locks that anything less than Kryptonian would have a hard time breaking through.</p>
<p>Caitlin felt her adrenaline rush getting to higher levels than normal, and felt her consciousness being pushed back to more of a spectator role as Frost took control.</p>
<p>—_</p>
<p>Frost was awake for less than a second before she acted, using her powers to freeze over the already near-impenetrable door.</p>
<p>
  <em>FWSSSSSSSSH</em>
</p>
<p>“Ngh...” she saw Nash beside her as he made a pained sound, holding his arm while a rather nasty bite wound was bleeding heavily.</p>
<p>She grabbed his uninjured arm gently, moving it so she could hold her hand over the injury.</p>
<p>She looked at him, “This is gonna hurt.”</p>
<p>He gritted his teeth, responding only in a nod.</p>
<p>
  <em>FWSSSSSH</em>
</p>
<p>He held back from crying out, though his jaw looked like it was clenching hard enough to crack.<br/>
At that point those who’d been in the Cortex came running, Cisco the first of the three.</p>
<p>“We heard screaming. What’s goi— OH MY GOD!” Had this been a cartoon, there’d have been the sound of tires screeching as Cisco came to a stop, seeing the now frozen bite in Nash’s arm, “What the hell—“</p>
<p>“Bad news.” Frost told him, Kamilla and Iris joining them a second later, “Take Nash to the Cortex, give him three capsules from the bottle in the top drawer in my desk, yellow label.</p>
<p>Iris nodded, taking Nash away as Frost snatched her phone out of her pocket.</p>
<p>“Calling Scott and Barry?”</p>
<p>She nodded, holding the phone up to her ear.</p>
<p>
  <em>”Hey, Cait. Anything?”</em>
</p>
<p>“Get your asses back here, now!”</p>
<p>
  <em>”Why? What happened?”</em>
</p>
<p>“Just do it!”</p>
<p>
  <em>THUD</em>
</p>
<p>She hung up as a loud impact came from the other side of the door, and Cisco stared at it in fear. He looked to Frost, “Was that—“</p>
<p>“Allegra, yeah.” She answered, “Or at least what used to be.”</p>
<p>The man looked with newfound terror at the frozen over door, “So, she’s... she’s a... a—“</p>
<p>“She’s dead and walking, Cisco. Don’t act like this kind of thing hasn’t happened before.”</p>
<p>“This has happened exactly once before, and it wasn’t our friend who came back to life, *and* it we knew how it happened and how to stop it!”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>The gust of wind that signaled their returning friends made her push him towards the Cortex.</p>
<p>They ran in, finding Barry and Scott behind the desk, the latter turning and walking over to Frost, “Frost, what happened?”</p>
<p>Cisco answered for her, bringing up the feed from the cameras in the med-bay.</p>
<p>What used to be Allegra was now rampaging around the room, with most of the equipment now smashed beyond repair as she seemed to be trying to find a way out.</p>
<p>The sounds accompanying her assault on the room were... Frost didn’t even know how to describe them properly.</p>
<p>Snarls? Shrieks? Roars?</p>
<p>If she was honest, they sounded like all of the above and more as she repeatedly slammed her body weight against the sealed doorway and blast-shutters.</p>
<p>“Jesus...” Barry breathed.</p>
<p>“Allegra is a zombie!” Cisco was starting to panic, “And she bit Nash!”</p>
<p>Scott seemed to only just then notice Nash nursing the wound, and he rushed over to check the damage, Frost following him over.</p>
<p>The bite already looked horrid, and the same dark marks than were across Allegra’s body were already starting to appear at it’s edges as it thawed.</p>
<p>Scott cursed under his breath before he loooked to Frost, “We’re gonna need every kind of antiseptic and antibacterial that we’ve got in here. Start with—“</p>
<p>“No.” Nash cut him off, holding his hand over the bite, “Don’t waste your things on me.”</p>
<p>Scott brushed him off, “Nash, don’t be ridiculous. It’s not wasting—“</p>
<p>“Yes, it is.” Nash insisted, “Caitlin told me Allegra was already gone before she could get to S.T.A.R. Labs, and she was healing better than I ever could.” He shook his head, “I’m already beyond saving, Scott. No amount of medical expertise can change that.”</p>
<p>Scott gritted his teeth, starting to shake his head in argument when Nash forced himself to his feet, “My guess is that I’ve got maybe an hour before I’m gone, if that.”</p>
<p>“Dammit, Nash, this isn’t a fucking debate.”</p>
<p>Nash looked at him, “You’re right. It’s not.” He raised his uninjured arm, pointing his gauntlet at Scott’s head, “Do not waste your time.”</p>
<p>The rest of the room gaged various reactions, all of which were trying to deescalate the confrontation.</p>
<p>Scott didn’t flinch, “We both know nothing you could do with that would hurt me.”</p>
<p>“Do we?” Nash asked, tilting his head, “I’ve been on this Earth for six months, with complete access to this whole facility, you think I didn’t prepare myself for something going wrong?”</p>
<p>“Nash—“</p>
<p>“—Is dead.” He finished, “I am already dead, Scott. There’s no changing that— there’s no saving me.” He moved his arm to point at the still sealed blast-shutters of the med-bay, “But I can still save her. Maybe not from death, but I can save her from an existence of being... whatever it is she’s turned into.”</p>
<p>Frost looked at him in question as he started messing with his gauntlet again, “How?”</p>
<p>He held up the device to show them all the screen, now displaying a still countdown for a minute, “Self-destruct.” He nodded again to the room, “I go in there, set this off, it’ll vaporize any organic matter in a second. I don’t succumb to whatever it is that killed her, and she no longer is forced to spend her death as a mindless killer.”</p>
<p>The room was silent at that, Barry just barely speaking up, “There... there’s no other way to go about this?”</p>
<p>Nash shook his head, “If there is, we don’t have time to figure it out.”</p>
<p>He took a step aside from everyone, clicking his gauntlet a tad more, “I’m not really one for heartfelt goodbyes, so...”</p>
<p>
  <em>BWOOM</em>
</p>
<p>In a blink he was gone, swallowed up by a burst of red smoke.</p>
<p>On screen, another burst appeared inside the med-bay, spitting Nash out before closing again.</p>
<p>Allegra charged him with a shriek, and he was able to outmaneuver her, tripping her up and catching her as they both hit the ground.</p>
<p>He had her in a chokehold, her body thrashing wildly as she tried to break free— teeth gnashing violently.</p>
<p>He activated his gauntlet.</p>
<p>Gideon was able to sync with the timer, letting the others see the countdown happen.</p>
<p>The timer got down to the last ten seconds, and Nash’s strength seemed to be fading fast. His grip on Allegra loosened just enough for her to slip free, sinking her teeth into the same arm as before.</p>
<p>Nash didn’t react to it. Instead, he just shut his eyes, whispering to himself as the final seconds ticked down.</p>
<p>“The prize is everything...”</p>
<p>
  <em>THOOM</em>
</p>
<p>The feed went white, and their friends were gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Area of Effect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scott looked away when the feed cut, more emotions than he knew what to do with bubbling up in his chest.</p>
<p>He felt a hand gently rest on his arm, and Frost’s attempt to comfort him, “We couldn’t have helped him, Scott. He was right. It was too late already.”</p>
<p>“Help...” The word left his lips like a ghost from it’s grave. It felt like it stuck to to him, swirling around him until something sparked in his brain, “Help.”</p>
<p>Frost’s brow creased, “What?”</p>
<p>He turned to Barry, repeating the word again like it was all he could say, “Help.”</p>
<p>Barry— along with the rest of the room —was clearly confused by his sudden interest in the word.</p>
<p>Thankfully, his one word track righted itself.</p>
<p>“Our broken attacker. He just up and crawled away after he bit Allegra, right?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“And that alley only leads out onto the street. What’re you gonna do if you find a man with broken legs literally dragging himself around?”</p>
<p>“You take him to the hospital.” Iris followed, and he snapped his fingers to say she was right.</p>
<p>“Someone picked him up and took him to get him help. And with what he did, and can do, I guarantee they didn’t get out of it unscathed.”</p>
<p>Worry painted itself over Barry’s expression, “If he bit more people when they were trying to help him—“</p>
<p>“We’ve got no idea how many people he could’ve killed by now.” Frost finished.</p>
<p>Barry turned, “Cisco.”</p>
<p>He was already at a computer, typing as fast as he could. He hit a final key, and whatever he saw onscreen made him look away.</p>
<p>“Cisco, what is it?”</p>
<p>He blindly reached for the key to share the screen, putting it up on the monitors for them all to see.</p>
<p>It was the security feed from an ER.</p>
<p>Beds were thrown around like they’d been weightless. Curtains were torn to shreds and some of the tracks ripped out of the ceiling.</p>
<p>On the walls were smears of something dark, alongside the scarlet splattering of blood.</p>
<p>The room was deserted, but only because those that they could see where no longer human.</p>
<p>Three more people had suffered the same fate as Allegra. Turned into screaming, deranged savages trying to break through a door that appeared to be blocked from the other side.</p>
<p>There had been more people in the room— that much was obvious —but what was left of them were little more than scraps.</p>
<p>The parts they didn’t like.</p>
<p>“There’s gotta be people still inside.” Barry said, walking around the console, “We gotta get in there. We can get them out.”</p>
<p>Scott looked to him, “Barry, I’m not sure—“</p>
<p>“Just because people have died doesn’t mean others can’t be saved.”</p>
<p>Scott blew a sigh out his nose, conceding with a nod, “Alright.” They took a single step each towards their suits.</p>
<p>“Wait.” Cisco waved for them to stop, his eyes back on the screen in front of him, “You’re gonna want to see this first.”</p>
<p>He hit another key, and the feed changed to their digital map of the city.</p>
<p>Red exclamation points were clustered in the blocks surrounding Central City General, each one representing someone hitting their metahuman alert app.</p>
<p>“Oh, god.”</p>
<p>“Please tell me those aren’t what I think they are.”</p>
<p>The screen changed again, showing a different feed from a camera mounted above the street.</p>
<p>It was chaos. More vehicles had collided with each other than Scott had seen in his life. A few were overturned, including a bus that had landed with it’s doors against the ground— It’s windshield smashed inward from something trying to get inside.</p>
<p>Around the crashes were people running for their lives, with more people that had been infected chasing them down relentlessly.</p>
<p>The feed showed one man try to duck into a building to get away, but he was tackled off his feet by an infected woman who’d been offscreen.</p>
<p>They saw the woman bite into the man’s neck before the screen cut to black, courtesy of Cisco.</p>
<p>Kamilla looked to him from across the room, “How long have people been calling in?”</p>
<p>He looked ashamed, “Four hours.” He shook his head, “Four hours, and not one of them got to that desk, or any of our phones.”</p>
<p>Barry shook his head, his eyes still locked on the dark screen, “This isn’t on you, Cisco. This is bigger than we thought.” He looked to him, “How far has it spread already? If it hasn’t gotten too far from the hospital, maybe we can contain it.”</p>
<p>Scott looked at him, “How? You can’t just run around the perimeter of it and punch anything that tries to get past, you’d wear yourself out before anyone could do anything more permanent, and there aren’t enough of us with powers to block off every street and alley.”</p>
<p>Cisco’s map came up again, “The last alert came from... here.” The exclamation points vanished, leaving only one, “A little more than two minutes ago.”</p>
<p>Iris looked to her husband, “Barry, that’s—“</p>
<p>“Jitters.” He finished, “And CCPD is right there, too. We gotta go.”</p>
<p>Before anyone could argue to the contrary, Barry grabbed his suit and ran, leaving barley an instant for Scott to grab his and hitch a ride on the lightning trail.</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Reality Setting In</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Barry skidded to a stop just outside the coffee shop, Scott landing beside him as they took in the carnage.</p><p>The glass was shattered. The jagged shards that lined the windows were a dark crimson, leading to the assumption that there’d been people on the other side when it’d broken, and they likely hadn’t faired well.</p><p>
  <strong>KOOM</strong>
</p><p>The metas turned as the sound of a shotgun blast came from the precinct.</p><p>Scott patted Barry’s arm, “Go, but be careful. I’ll see if there’s anyone left in Jitters before I join you.”</p><p>Barry nodded once—</p><p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p><p>—and he was gone.</p><p>Scott ran across the vacant street, slowing down and walking silently into the wrecked café.</p><p>He heard no one, and saw nothing moving in the dark.</p><p>He closed his eyes and reached out with his powers.</p><p>He felt the electric output of a heartbeat— no, two. The second was weaker. Dull enough to fool his senses for a moment.</p><p>The output was combing from above, in the higher seating.</p><p>He climbed up quickly, finding a man in the far corner, kneeling beside a woman who looked like she’d seen better days.</p><p>Scott rushed over, the man’s eyes lighting up as he saw him.</p><p>“Surge! Oh, thank god. I didn’t want to move or ask who was there in case it was one of those... things, but thank god it’s you.” He whispered, relief crossing his features for a moment before the woman next to him groaned, “Please, you’ve gotta help her.”</p><p>Scott knelt down, finding the cause of the woman’s pain quickly.</p><p>Her shin looked like Allegra’s shoulder and Nash’s arm. Horribly discolored and an epicenter for the same dark, winding tendrils the infection seemed to cause like a signature.</p><p>“How long ago did this happen?”</p><p>The man shook his head, “I-I don’t... I don’t know. An hour? Hour and a half? Time’s kind of just blurred since we got up here.”</p><p>Scott looked down at the woman’s injury again, shutting his eyes tight as he cursed himself for the umpteenth time that day at his uselessness.</p><p>He looked to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder, “What you’ve done for this woman is admirable, and you’re as much a hero as any of my team, but you need to look out for yourself now.”</p><p>The man looked at him with momentary confusion before he caught onto what Scott was saying, “What? No. No, we can’t just leave her here. She needs help.”</p><p>Scott shook his head, “There is no helping her. I’m sorry, but she’s gone already.” The words stung his throat, “I can get <em>you</em> to safety though. Past the affected area.”</p><p>The man‘s expression became something akin to disgust, “What kind of bullshit hero are you? I thought your kind were supposed to save people like her?”</p><p>“We are, but we can’t save people who are beyond saving. Now, if you give me your hand I—“</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere with you. I’d rather take my chances with those things out there than somebody who’ll just abandon someone in need.”</p><p>Scott just stared at the man for a moment, trying to decide the best corse of action.</p><p>“Did you get bitten?” He asked.</p><p>“No. Why?”</p><p>Scott didn’t answer, grabbing the man’s arm and channeling them both into the nearest flickering light fixture.</p><p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p><p>He landed with the man on the opposite side of town; just on the far side of the bridge.</p><p>“Hey, what the hell did you just do?!” The man snapped as he pulled his arm away from Scott.</p><p>Scott shook his head once as he took a step back, “Probably just saved your life. Your welcome.”</p><p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p><p>He zipped through the underground cables, twisting and turning until he emerged again, this time inside CCPD.</p><p>Like Jitters, the place was a chaotic mess.</p><p>Unlike Jitters, there was no one hiding out.</p><p>In the middle of the bullpen was Barry, crouched down time one knee. Beside him was was the lifeless form of an officer, his body too mangled to ever be able to ID him.</p><p>He approached his friend slowly, “Flash... is—“</p><p>“There’s no one, Scott.” He said bitterly. He held his hand gingerly above the officer, closing it into a fist a second later, “There’s no one left. I was too slow.”</p><p>Scott’s eyes turned to the floor, seeing a horrific collage of spilled blood and shell casings that stretched across the room.</p><p>But, aside from the one where Barry was kneeling, there were no bodies.</p><p>“Where are they?”</p><p>Barry looked like he was trying to swallow back the guilt he felt, “They’re all in the cells.” He waved blinding towards the hall, “I locked them in and barricaded the doors. They’re not getting out, but...” he shook his head before looking up at Scott, “But everyone’s gone. The whole precinct— detectives, office workers, suspects —all of them either killed or... or turned into more of those monsters.”</p><p>Scott was quiet for a moment, noting a shotgun still in the grasp of the fallen officer.</p><p>“Barry, I don’t think this is about containing this to a certain area anymore.” The speedster looked at him in confusion, “We don’t have backup anymore, and like I said earlier, you, me, and Frost are not enough to take on a literal army of the dead.”</p><p>Barry shook his head, standing up to face his fellow meta, “Then we don’t stop at the three of us. We call in everyone we can. Kara, Clark, Kate, Laurel—“</p><p><em>”I don’t think that plan is gonna work out like we hope, guys.”</em> Cisco cut in through their comms.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p><em>”Cell towers across the city have gone down, and even with me reconfiguring the satellite, no one’s responding to anything.”</em> Frustration was leaking into his voice, <em>”Iris can’t even get ahold of Joe and Cecile. We’re completely in the dark.”</em></p><p>Worry spiked over Barry’s face, and Scott nodded off in the direction of the exit, “You get them to S.T.A.R. Labs. I’ll meet you there.” the speedster nodded, turning to run before Scott stopped him, “And Barry, don’t take any chances, okay?”</p><p>He looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. He gave a quick nod—</p><p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p><p>—and vanished.</p><p>Scott didn’t zap himself back when he left like he normally would’ve. Instead he pulled him comms out of his ears, and unsteadily stumbled over to the nearest wall. He just reached it before his legs fell out from under him, and he slid to the floor, his upper body propped up against the wood.</p><p>His eyes shut tight, his lips clamped tighter to hold back the scream in his throat that threatened to make an appearance. He focused solely on keeping his emotions under control.</p><p>He would not fall apart. Not here, not now. He didn’t have the luxury. </p><p>Even with his eyes closed he knew the lights around the bullpen were at least flickering from his powers flaring.</p><p>The heartbeat in his ears quieted, slowing down to his normal pace as his breathing became more even.</p><p>He opened his eyes again, pulling himself up to his feet and sticking his comms back in his ears. The act tuned him in to Frost in the middle of threatening him.</p><p>
  <em>”— dammit, Nine-Volt, if you don’t answer me in three seconds I’m marching down to that precinct and I will freeze you solid to drag your ass back here.”</em>
</p><p>He bit back a quiet laugh, “I’m here, Frost. I’m alright.”</p><p>He heard her sigh in relief, with a tiny bit of bitterness, <em>”Don’t scare us like that, Scotty.”</em></p><p>“Sorry, I just...” he looked down at the spot he’d sat down, “I needed a minute.”</p><p>
  <em>”You’re okay now?”</em>
</p><p>“Yeah.” He lied, “I need to do something before I come back. It won’t take long.”</p><p>Though he couldn’t see her, he could tell she nodded in response, <em>”Be careful, Scotty. Keep it quick.” </em></p><p>“Will do.”</p><p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Evacuation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scott zapped himself through the lights and back onto the upper seating of Jitters.</p>
<p>His eyes turned towards the corner where the injured woman had been lying, meaning to take a page out of Nash’s book and save her from the fate worse than death.</p>
<p>But she was gone.</p>
<p>In her place was only an already coagulated puddle of blood, it’s color on it’s way to matching the black substance he and Barry had found in the alley.</p>
<p>He didn’t dwell on the fact that he was too late.</p>
<p>He didn’t get the chance.</p>
<p>
  <em>RHAAAAGH!</em>
</p>
<p>A sound partway between a shriek and a roar cut through air, and he moved to look over the railing.</p>
<p>There was nothing inside the shop, the only signs that anyone had been there in the twenty minutes since he’d left was some of the furniture being in different spots.</p>
<p>
  <em>RHHAAAAGGHH!</em>
</p>
<p>Another sound, and Scott chose to transfer himself to the roof to get a better look.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p>
<p>As soon as his feet touched the rooftop patio, he had his answer.</p>
<p>Pouring through the streets, all seemingly headed in the same direction, were the turned.</p>
<p>And there were more than any of them could’ve feared.</p>
<p>The group stretched down several blocks, condensed together as they ran. Hundreds of Central City citizens that’d become nothing but mindless, hungry killers.</p>
<p>The morning sun was just staring to breach through the streets behind the moving horde, shedding even more light on just how much damage one man who’d come through a breach had caused in just under ten hours.</p>
<p>“Cisco, can you hear me?”</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah, man. What’s going on?”</em>
</p>
<p>“How man of the city’s bridges can be raised?”</p>
<p><em>“Oh, shit, uh... hang on.”</em> there was the sound of furious typing as Cisco looked for the answer, <em>”Of the eight in city limits... two.”</em></p>
<p>“Please tell me one of those is the one on Broadwind.”</p>
<p>There was no answer.</p>
<p>“Cisco?”</p>
<p>
  <em>“No. No, it isn’t.”</em>
</p>
<p>At once Scott rose into the air, gaining enough height before he flew off in the direction of the mob.</p>
<p>He got to the bridge quickly, finding that they’d already crossed, and that they were spreading across the second half of the city.</p>
<p>“Lock down the building.”</p>
<p>
  <em>“Scott, what’s happening?”</em>
</p>
<p>“They’ve crossed the bridge, and it won’t take long for them to reach you. Lock down the building, now. I’m on my way back.”</p>
<p>He dove towards the ground, aiming for a power line and jumping through it until he landed in the Cortex.</p>
<p>He was relived to see that Barry had gotten to the West’s house and back already, Joe pacing around the room while Cecile tried to soothe Jenna’s fussing.</p>
<p>He turned his attention to the center console, “Is it done? Are we safe?”</p>
<p>Cisco flashed him a moderately annoyed expression, “You told me to do it, like, twenty seconds ago. It takes time for the whole building to go into lockdown. There’s proper procedures and sequences that go into it. It doesn’t just happen all at once at the snap of your fingers.”</p>
<p>“How long?”</p>
<p>He threw his hands up half-heartedly, “Ten minutes? Twelve at maximum?”</p>
<p>That wasn’t fast enough. At the speed the mob was going, it was nowhere close to fast enough.</p>
<p>“We need a Plan B then.”</p>
<p>Barry’s brow creased, “Scott, what’d you see? How many are out there?”</p>
<p>“There are roughly two and a half million people in Central City, and now probably a third of them are infected and looking to either turn more people, or tear them to pieces. If they were to get inside S.T.A.R. Labs, we might have a minute before we’d be overrun.”</p>
<p>For a few moments the Cortex was silent.</p>
<p>
  <em>BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPB—</em><br/>
<em>Wham</em>
</p>
<p>Until they console lit up with sound, and Cisco smacked the desktop, “No. No! You can’t be serious right now!”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“The system’s malfunctioning. It’s stopped in the middle of the program, and I don’t know what it is I need to fix to get it going again!”</p>
<p>“How long would you need?” Joe asked, and Cisco stepped away. He ran his hands through his hair.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter, because according to Scott, we wouldn’t even have ten minutes.”</p>
<p>“Okay, then let’s work on our Plan B.” Iris said calmly, “If here isn’t safe, then we need to get somewhere that is. That’s probably going to be away from the city.”</p>
<p>Frost crossed her arms, “Where though? Are we thinking Keystone?”</p>
<p>Scott shook his head, “I don’t think so. Too close by.” He looked over at Cisco— who was trying his best to balance out his stress levels, “Cisco, what do you think?”</p>
<p>His eyes flicked over in surprise, “Me? Why me?”</p>
<p>“You’re the one with more knowledge on zombie scenarios than the rest of us. I thought you might have some ideas.”</p>
<p>Their techie was quiet for a moment, “Uh, National City or Metropolis areas. We should try and contact Kara and them before we get there, just in case, but with both being on the opposite side of the country, it’d probably be our best bet.”</p>
<p>Barry nodded, “Okay, now how’re we getting there? I mean, I can’t carry eight people at once, and Scott can’t just zap us all cross-country without a big charge first.”</p>
<p>“So we use the lab vans.” Frost suggested, “They max out at six people, right? We get six in one, and the other three take a second, plus whatever supplies we can grab in, say, three minutes.”</p>
<p>Cisco ran a hand down his face as he tried to think fast, “Yeah. Yeah, that should work. Barry, there’s at least a dozen duffel-bags in my workshop. Fill ‘em with anything non-perishable and stuff that doesn’t need to be kept cold.” Barry nodded, and Cisco snapped his fingers before he could run off, “And the meta power bars. Take as many of those as you can.”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>Cisco pointed to Scott as Barry vanished, “Scott, go to lockup, and grab any weapon that doesn’t have a prerequisite to use.”</p>
<p>Scott nodded, taking hold of Frost’s hand beside him and zapping them to the room in question.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p>
<p>Their feet barely touched the floor before Frost went to work, freezing the locks and snapping them off of each of the containers, “What’d he mean by prerequisite use?”</p>
<p>Scott answered as he opened the first container, “Anything that we can use under any conditions. So, these—“ he reached in and pulled a pair of plasma rifles, “—Are a yes, but something like the Wizard’s Wand would be a no.” He set them down, opening the next crate.</p>
<p>“What about this?” She asked, and he looked over.</p>
<p>In her hands was a lengthy broadsword in it’s sheath. Scott took it as she handed it to him, pulling it out slightly to look at the blade.</p>
<p>Serrated near the hilt, and shifting into the normal flat shape towards it’s tip.</p>
<p>“This was Deathstroke’s. Oliver used to have this in his bunker.”</p>
<p>“What’s it doing here?”</p>
<p>He shook his head, pulling the sheath’s strap over his head to sit diagonal across his back, “Dunno. I’m just glad we have it.”</p>
<p>She raised a brow as she opened another crate, “Do you even know how to use that?”</p>
<p>“Not really, but I’ll take what we can get.”</p>
<p>Frost nodded, and they took a last check for anything they could take before he zapped them back.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p>
<p>Everyone was loading up with their own packs when they landed, and they gave the short rundown of options.</p>
<p>“Okay, we’ve got two plasma rifles, one sword, and Mick’s old heat gun, but it’s only got about half it’s fuel.” Frost told them.</p>
<p>Joe held his hand out, and she handed him one of the plasma rifles. Iris took the other, and Cisco opted to take the heat gun.</p>
<p>With them armed and packed, Barry nodded towards the hall, and they moved out.</p>
<p>He and Iris took the front, Frost right behind them. Joe and Cecile we’re behind her, and Cisco, Kamilla and Scott brought you the rear. The unspoken idea being to protect Cecile and Jenna if they were to encounter any of the infected before they reached the garage.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that they’d already gotten in the building, but Cisco assured them he’d shut off the elevators and that the stairwells were among the first things the lockdown finished.</p>
<p>
  <em>thunk</em>
</p>
<p>The entire group twitched at the sound of something hitting metal; heads swiveling to find the source.</p>
<p><em>thunk</em><br/>
<em>thunk</em></p>
<p>Two more, and Joe looked around with his gun raised, “Is that them? Where are they?”</p>
<p>Scott shook his head, trying to feel any kind of impulses around them. He felt nothing apart from the group, “I don’t know.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Crrrrrrcccckkk</em>
</p>
<p>The sound changed into a long groan of metal bending.</p>
<p>
  <em>rrrrrrrcck—KLANG</em>
</p>
<p>Metal snapped and a vent grate fell down from above them.</p>
<p>Before anyone could blink at it hands reached down from the vent, ripping Cecile off her feet and hauling her and Jenna up.</p>
<p>“Joe!”</p>
<p>“Cecile!” The detective jumped to bring her and his daughter back down, but she disappeared into the left of the hole, screams turning wilder and more frantic before cutting into little more than gurgling.</p>
<p>“RRRHHAAAGHHH!” Infected started coming from the other of the broken grate, and Joe leveled his gun at them.</p>
<p><em>BZEW</em><br/>
<em>BZEW-BZEW</em></p>
<p>
  <em>CCCCRRRRRRRRRCCCCCKKK</em><br/>
<strong>THOOM</strong>
</p>
<p>He took out three before the vents groaned again, and the shaft above broke and fell to the ground, splitting the group in two.</p>
<p>Infected swarmed from the broken vent above, screeching and shrieking like mad as they lashed out at everything around them.</p>
<p>It took seconds for them to over take Joe, dragging him to the ground as he continued to fire at them.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZEW-BZEW-BZEW</em>
</p>
<p>“Dad!”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWSSSSSSHHHH</em>
</p>
<p>Iris screamed as Frost froze over the closest of the infected to her side; her, Barry and Iris cut off from the others.</p>
<p>Scott drew the sword off his back, cleaving through an infected that lunged at him.</p>
<p>Too many were pouring from the vent for them to stop, and Scott looked across the broken shaft at the others. His eyes locked with Barry’s, “Get them out of here! Go! We’ll find you!”</p>
<p>Barry hesitated. Scott cut down another zombie.</p>
<p>“Run, Barry! Run!”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>The Flash disappeared with Iris and Frost in tow, and the infected set their sights on Scott, Cisco and Kamilla.</p>
<p>The three of them backed up, Scott’s sword held at the ready.</p>
<p>“Both of you get ready. I’m gonna get us out of here.” He told them, his voice beginning to reverberate as he channeled his powers.</p>
<p>The air around him crackled, and electricity arced off the sword.</p>
<p>“RRRHHHAAGGHHH!” One of the infected screamed, and they charged.</p>
<p>He swung the sword, and the hall lit up.</p>
<p>
  <em>KRAC—</em><strong><em>KOOM</em></strong>
</p>
<p>
  Lightning leapt from the blade, and the front of the pack was vaporized. The rest were thrown back, shrieking and snapping as they clambered over each other to get at them.
</p>
<p>
  Scott sheathed the sword, turned, and transported all three of them out of the building, aiming for the place he believed to be the safest in the city.
</p>
<p>
  
    <em>BZZT</em>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, I realize that last bit was a tad silly and all, but who said the apocalypse couldn’t have a bit of flare?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Separation Pt.1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cold.</p>
<p>Frost never thought she’d ever know what it was like to feel cold.</p>
<p>To have the hair raise across her skin in a way that never seemed to subside.</p>
<p>To feel a chill down her spine when her mind drifted into unpleasant thoughts and memories.</p>
<p>The West-Allen residence was still heated— at least for now —But that didn’t stop her shivering.</p>
<p>She looked back over her shoulder into the apartment, seeing Barry still sitting on the edge of his bed. His hand rested on Iris’ sleeping form.</p>
<p>She hadn’t moved in the two days since they’d fled S.T.A.R. Labs. She’d broken down as soon as they’d gotten there.</p>
<p>
  <em>”You haven’t heard anything from them still?”</em>
</p>
<p>Caitlin’s question rang in her mind, and Frost shook her head and faced the window again. She answered quietly, “Nothing yet. But they’re out there. They’ll find us, and then we can get out of here.”</p>
<p>Caitlin was quiet for a moment, <em>“What if—“</em></p>
<p>“Don’t.” Frost cut her off, “Don’t start thinking like that. He’s fine. All three of them are.” She wasn’t quite sure if she was reassuring Caitlin or herself, “Scott’s too stubborn to die, we know that.”</p>
<p>Again, there was a few moments of silence.</p>
<p>
  <em>”Do you want me to take over for a bit? Let you get some sleep?”</em>
</p>
<p>Frost chewed on the inside of her cheek, not answering.</p>
<p>
  <em>”You can’t just keep going forever, Frost. You’re gonna need to rest eventually, and now is a better time than in the middle of running.”</em>
</p>
<p>The ice meta let out a small sigh through her nose, and surrendered to the idea with a nod.</p>
<p>She shut her eyes, and felt Caitlin’s consciousness taking control while hers sunk into the back.</p>
<p>—_—_</p>
<p>Caitlin opened her eyes and saw the darkened skyline of Central City in front of her.</p>
<p>Part of her had hoped that when she’d opened her eyes it would be over. That she’d wake up beside Scott, and they’d go on with their lives stopping metahumans like they’d been doing the past six years.</p>
<p>She sighed. No such luck.</p>
<p>She turned at the sound of quiet footsteps behind her, finding Barry having joined her.</p>
<p>He shoved his hands in his pockets, and both were quiet for a long while.</p>
<p>“Did, uh... did Frost tell you what happened?” He asked without looking at her.</p>
<p>Caitlin’s eyes turned to the floor and she nodded, “Yeah. I’m so sorry, Barry.”</p>
<p>Barry pulled his hands free, wrapping them around himself, “Yeah. Thanks, Cait.” He wiped at his eyes and cleared his throat, eager to change the subject, “You have any idea where they could be? Where Scott might’ve thought to take them?”</p>
<p>She shook her head gently, “I’ve got one or two ideas, but without any kind of solid proof, sending you there to try and find them is just dangerous.”</p>
<p>He sighed quietly, the sound changing into a humorless scoff at it’s end, “All this speed, and here I am stuck on the couch.”</p>
<p>She patted his shoulder, repeating the reassuring tone Frost had used for her, “Hey, they’re gonna find us. We’ll be out of here before you know it, and once we get to National City we can start looking for a cure. Okay?”</p>
<p>Barry nodded, though his anxiety didn’t seem to lessen as much as he probably would’ve liked. He glanced behind them, and half-waved towards the bed, “I can take a watch if you want so you can get some rest? I’m sure Iris wouldn’t mind.”</p>
<p>Caitlin smiled and shook her head, “I just slept for two days, Barry. I can handle it while you take a few hours.”</p>
<p>He hesitated.</p>
<p>“Get some sleep, Flash.” She used her ‘doctor voice’ on him, “I’ll wake you if anything happens.”</p>
<p>A small smile crossed his face, and for a split-second they felt like they were back to normal.</p>
<p>Without another word he walked back over to his wife’s sleeping form, lying down and curling himself around her.</p>
<p>Caitlin turned her eyes back to the city, only just noticing herself spinning the gold band on her left hand.</p>
<p>“Where are you, Scotty?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Separation Pt.2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How did you say you knew about this place again?” Kamilla asked out of the blue.</p><p>“I didn’t.” Scott said simply, leaning back against the wall and taking one of the powerbars out of his bag. He tilted his head, looking around at the run-down apartment they were in, “Me and Caitlin used to come up here, back when she first got control over Frost’s side of her. We’d meet up here almost nightly for around six months.”</p><p>“Oh. How... romantic, I think?”</p><p>“It looked better when they were staying here.” Cisco assured her from across the room, not taking his eyes off his laptop screen, “Frost may have been more prone to violence back then, but she still had class.”</p><p>Scott snapped his fingers and pointed at him to agree. He looked over to him curiously, “Are you still going over the footage from the alley?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Cisco, you’ve been going over it for two days. If you haven’t found something to clue us into a way to stop it yet, I don’t think you’re going to.”</p><p>“You don’t know that.”</p><p>“Maybe not, but I’m pretty sure watching the same three minute clip three hundred times points in that direction.”</p><p>Cisco huffed, holding his head in his hands and running them through to clear the strands from his face, “Maybe you’re right. We need something else.” </p><p>He sat there thinking for a moment before getting up, and digging into his own pack.</p><p>Scott got up from the floor, “What we need is a way to find Caitlin, Barry and Iris, so we can leave instead of being trapped in a zombie infested city. What are you looking for?”</p><p>Cisco didn’t answer verbally, pulling his goal out of his bag.</p><p>His Vibe goggles.</p><p>Scott’s brow creased at the tech. He looked back and forth from it to Cisco, absorbing the meaning of them being there.</p><p>“You... you have your powers?”</p><p>Cisco bit at his lip sheepishly, “Yes and no. I—“</p><p>
  <em>WHAM</em>
</p><p>Scott’s fist connected with his cheek before he could finish, “You have your powers, and you didn’t think to bring that up and breach us to National City?!”</p><p>Kamilla was up and putting herself between them, letting Cisco recover from the blow, “Hey! Listen to him before you start throwing punches!”</p><p>Cisco held his face behind her, patting her arm to say he was fine. He looked at Scott as she moved slightly to the side, “What I was saying, is that I don’t have all of my powers.”</p><p>“What’s that mean?”</p><p>“It means that I can’t open any breaches. I can barely vibe without it almost knocking me out for a day, and any pulses I try to fight with are about as strong as a light shove.” He held up his goggles, “If I’m wearing these it helps, but only slightly.”</p><p>Scott took a step back out of Cisco’s space, feeling guilty at acting before listening, “How’d this happen? I thought you took the cure?”</p><p>“I did. But, then The Monitor gifted me back my powers during the Crisis.” He shrugged, “My best guess is that when Oliver created the new multiverse, he tried to set me back without my powers, like I was. Only, that decision must’ve clashed with The Monitor’s and...” he waved at himself half-heartedly, “Voilà. Half Vibe, half Cisco.”</p><p>He pulled up his left sleeve, unclipping his watch and showing off the underside. On it was a small device, no bigger than a dime. It was glowing a faint turquoise. A power dampener.</p><p>He clicked the watch back on, “I put that on to keep me from from vibing accidentally. I thought passing out randomly in the middle of something important going on wasn’t exactly a good idea.”</p><p>Scott looked at the floor, “Sorry. I should’ve—“</p><p>Cisco waved at him to stop, “Hey, don’t worry about it. If the situation was reversed I’d have done the same.” He rotated his goggles, “But I do need you to do something for me.”</p><p>“What’s that?”</p><p>He held up the tech, “I think, if I’m able to focus enough, I might be able to reach through the breach that brought patient zero here.”</p><p>Scott crossed his arms, “I thought you said you can’t open breaches?”</p><p>“I can’t. But that’s not what I want to try. I think I might be able to—“ he shrugged, “I dunno, maybe try and contact whoever sent that thing to our Earth. If I can do that, then maybe they’ve gotten somewhere on something to stop it.”</p><p>Scott looked at him expectantly, “This is where the ‘but’ comes in, isn’t it?”</p><p>Cisco pointed at him, “‘But’ I need to be at the breach site. Which means—“</p><p>“Standing open and vulnerable in an alley while you try to talk through an inter-dimensional portal, with flesh eating monsters prowling the streets around every corner.”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>Scott sighed, “How long would you need?”</p><p>“Hard to say. Could be two minutes, could be twenty. I just know that I need you two to keep a lookout while I’m in there.”</p><p>Scott nodded, “Alright. It’s too dark for us to do it right now. So—“ he tossed his still unopened powerbar to Cisco, “Eat, get some sleep, and we’ll try and get down there first thing in the morning, okay?”</p><p>Cisco held up the bar in thanks, and he and Kamilla sat back down where she’d been before.</p><p>Scott turned towards the window, staring off at the sun that had almost disappeared below the horizon.</p><p>“No one’s answered our S.O.S?” He asked.</p><p>“No.” Cisco told him, “I’ve been checking that every hour or so, and I’ve gotten nothing. Nothing from Star City, or National, or Gotham.”</p><p>“What about the Waverider?” Scott looked at him.</p><p>Cisco shrugged, “If the Legends got my message, they’re sure as hell taking their sweet time about answering it.”</p><p>Scott nodded, “Then we’re on our own.” He looked out the window again, noticing a darkening array of clouds just beginning to form to the West.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Answers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How long do you need to make this work?” Scott asked quietly as he peeked around the corner of the alley.</p>
<p>Since the infected had spread over the river to the other half of the city, the surrounding area was much lighter in their populous.</p>
<p>Though that didn’t mean they were about to go looking for a fight.</p>
<p>Cisco shrugged as he made his last adjustments to his goggles, “With the state of my vibes, I don’t know. Best guess is maybe ten minutes? Fifteen?”</p>
<p>“That’s a lot to ask if those things find us.”</p>
<p>“I know it is, but with what’s at stake, I think the end justifies the means.”</p>
<p>Kamilla ran back over from the other entry to the alley, “Coast is clear for now. Can’t say it’s gonna stay that way.”</p>
<p>Cisco nodded, and his gear hummed to life, “Let’s get this show on the road then, huh?”</p>
<p>He slipped them over his face and, knelt down, his fingers hovering over the still slick puddle of blackened goo from days prior.</p>
<p>“I’ll try to make it fast.”</p>
<p>He touched the goop, and stood bolt upright with a sharp gasp.</p>
<p>Kamilla and Scott looked at each other, and she shrugged, “So, now what?”</p>
<p>Scott opened his mouth to answer—</p>
<p>
  <em>”RRRHHHHHAAAAGGGGHHHH!”</em>
</p>
<p>—but a long, loud shriek rose up from a few blocks away before he could, both of them turning in it’s direction.</p>
<p>“Now we pray nothing finds us in here.”</p>
<p>—_—_</p>
<p>The moment he started vibing, pain shot through every neuron in Cisco’s head. It subsided after a few moments, but the initial shock was enough to make him think that maybe that’s what Barry had felt like all those years ago.</p>
<p>He shook his head, trying focus his mind and find the source of their patient zero.</p>
<p>He felt a presence. Another breacher, he was sure; they felt just like Josh and Cynthia.</p>
<p>“Hello?” He called out. Trying to get them to meet him halfway, “Can you hear me?”</p>
<p>“I can hear you.”</p>
<p>“AH!” Cisco jumped at the response, turning to face the person.</p>
<p>Another Cisco stood facing him on the other side of their shadowy meeting place.</p>
<p>Cisco eyed him warily. After meeting the likes of Echo and Reverb, he couldn’t help but be a little defensive in the presence of his doppelgängers.</p>
<p>The other Cisco noticed, and flashed him a half-assed smile, “What’s the matter? Don’t trust yourself?”</p>
<p>“Would you with everything that the multiverse has to offer?”</p>
<p>He shrugged, “Suppose not.”</p>
<p>Cisco stepped forward, “Listen, someone on your Earth opened a breach and sent someone through to mine. That person... they were sick. Infected.” He shook his head, “Now, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but—“</p>
<p>“It was me.” The doppelgänger interrupted. Cisco stopped cold.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>The other Cisco’s demeanor changed. He refused to look his Earth-Prime counterpart in the eyes, and he shuffled in his stance from foot to foot, “I know about the infection. I know about the zombies, because I was the one that sent it to your Earth.”</p>
<p>Cisco shook his head, “Wh—... Why? Why would you do that?“</p>
<p>“I didn’t have any other choice.”</p>
<p>Cisco glared as he started to raise his voice, “What, do tell, could possibly give you no other choice but to send a highly contagious infection to another universe? What the hell could force you to do that?!”</p>
<p>“We were surrounded.” He told him, “There were so few of us left, and the horde cut us off on all sides.” The other Cisco pinched the bridge of his nose, “They swarmed at us, and... I don’t even know how I did it, but I opened so many breaches. They were everywhere, swallowing up the infected and taking them somewhere else.”</p>
<p>Cisco circled around him, “So, it’s not just my Central City that you killed. It’s countless others across the multiverse.”</p>
<p>He nodded, swallowing like he was trying to swallow back the guilt he felt. He gently wrapped his right hand around his left forearm, “Not that it made that much of a difference.”</p>
<p>Cisco’s brow creased, and he looked closer. Initially hidden by his doppelgänger’s unkempt hair was the telltale dark tendrils stretching across his skin.</p>
<p>Cisco pursed his lips, “You still got bit.”</p>
<p>The other nodded slowly, “Karma works fast.”</p>
<p>Cisco swallowed, “Is there anyone working on a way to reverse it? There’s at least thirty geniuses with with high enough IQs to figure this out among all of the super-teams we know. And half a dozen hyper-intelligent AI’s. Someone’s had to have come up with something.”</p>
<p>The doppelgänger shook his head, “There’s no one left, Cisco. We weren’t ready when it started. We didn’t see it coming, so we lost too many people too fast.”</p>
<p>Cisco wanted to push for some kind of lead, but a white hot pain tore through his head, and he clutched his temples as he dropped to one knee.</p>
<p>“AAGH!”</p>
<p>The other Cisco knelt down to try and help him, “Your powers aren’t strong enough for this length of connection. If you don’t stop, it’ll kill you.”</p>
<p>Cisco gritted his teeth, trying desperately to fight against what felt like a nuke going off in his head, “Please... there’s gotta be... something.”</p>
<p>The doppelgänger’s expression tightened, and he shook his head, “Get to your National City. Get Brainy. Get Lena Luthor. Hell, get Lex if you can. Get as many people together as you can, and together... maybe you can find something to stop it.”</p>
<p>Another wave of pain washed over Cisco, and the doppelgänger cupped his hands over Cisco’s temples as well, “I’m sending you back. Good luck, and for what it’s worth... I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Cisco’s vision went white, and he felt his consciousness being hastily pulled back to his body.</p>
<p>—_—_</p>
<p>
  <em>“RRHHHHAAAAAAGGGGHH!” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>KRAC—KOOM</strong>
</p>
<p>Lightning tore through the wave of infected coming through the mouth of the alley. The other side, having more than a hundred already climbing overtop of each other, were held at bay by a barrier of Scott’s own making while he dealt with the group in front of him.</p>
<p>A mixture of his powers and improvised use of the sword in his hand were holding them off as best he could, but he knew it’d only work for so long.</p>
<p>“Kamilla, I need you to hurry it up.” He warned, slashing through the next in line.</p>
<p>“I’m working on it! This thing is almost welded shut!” She snapped back at him.</p>
<p>He had her trying to open the electrical box nearby, in the hopes that he could get a more lasting charge.</p>
<p>He grunted with another swing before holding it out behind him, “Here, try this!”</p>
<p>“What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”</p>
<p>“Figure it out, I’m a little busy!”</p>
<p>
  <strong>BZZZ—ZZZZAAAT</strong>
</p>
<p>He heard her run over and take the sword out of his hand, and run back to the box.</p>
<p>
  <em>CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLUNK</em>
</p>
<p>“I got it!” She cheered, but a second later her voice changed, “Cisco!”</p>
<p>Scott glanced back, seeing Cisco’s unconscious form on the ground with Kamilla now kneeling over him.</p>
<p>
  <em>”RRHHAAGH!” </em>
</p>
<p>He turned back as the teeth of a zombie snapped closed an inch from his hand.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZZZZAAT</em>
</p>
<p>They burned up, and he conjured a second barrier to keep them at bay as well.</p>
<p>“Scott, his heart’s not beating!”</p>
<p>The words echoed in his ears, and he saw the world turn red around him.</p>
<p>Keeping the barriers up, he ran back over, kneeling down and pressing fingers to Cisco’s neck.</p>
<p>He indeed had no pulse, but Scott couldn’t restart it without taking his mind off the barriers, and that would weaken them significantly.</p>
<p>He looked up, seeing the now opened breaker box behind Kamilla.</p>
<p>“Keep hold of the sword, and pray this works.” He told her as he got up to it.</p>
<p>“What? What’re you doing?”</p>
<p>He didn’t answer, slamming his hand into the exposed panel and absorbing.</p>
<p><em>BZZZZ—ZZZAAT</em><br/>
<em>ZZZZZAAAT</em><br/>
<em>BZZZZZT</em></p>
<p>Arcs of electricity struck around them, leaving blackened patches on everything they collided with.</p>
<p>Scott’s vision turned white from the overloading charge, and all at once he released it.</p>
<p>
  <em>KRAC—<strong>KOOM</strong></em>
</p>
<p>A pulse surged outward, throwing the infected piled over each other out of the alley and out onto the road.</p>
<p>Without stopping to think, Scott spun around, grabbed hold of both Kamilla and Cisco, and got them out of there as fast he could.</p>
<p>
  <strong>BZZT</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Desperation Pt.1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You can’t be serious.” Kamilla voiced the shock that both she and Scott felt at Cisco’s news, “I mean, I know it’s bad, Cisco, but what you’re suggesting... it’s insane.”</p>
<p>Cisco struggled to sit up from the couch, managing to pull himself to at least a slightly more vertical position, “We don’t have any other options. Like it or not, Central City as we know it is gone. It just is.” He paused, catching his breath, “We’ve lost Allegra, Nash, Joe, Cecile and Jenna. Hell, we don’t even know if Barry and them are okay.”</p>
<p>Scott opened his mouth, but Cisco cut him off, “What we <em>do</em> know, is that this infection is extremely contagious, and that if it leaves the city there’s nowhere on this Earth that’ll be safe.”</p>
<p>Scott’s brow creased, “You overexert yourself and have a stroke, wake up two days later, and now you think you’re in any condition to be making plans at all. Never mind ones of that scale.”</p>
<p>Cisco huffed and glared, “Scott, we can sit here and debate my mental state til we’re blue in the face, but you said yourself that I’m fine—“</p>
<p>“I have been wrong before.”</p>
<p>“— And the fact of the matter is that we can’t let these things leave Central City.”</p>
<p>Scott was quiet again, and Cisco pushed one last time, “Humanity might depend on it.”</p>
<p>The room was silent, and stayed that way until Kamilla spoke up again, “If there’s really no other way...”</p>
<p>Scott bit his tongue, unable to find an argument that would further his point. He shook his head with a frustrated sound, pointing at Cisco as he turned towards the other room, “You go back to sleep. Conserve your energy.”</p>
<p>Cisco nodded, and Kamilla tilted her head, “What’re you gonna do?”</p>
<p>He blew a breath out his nose, “Give any survivors a fighting chance.”</p>
<p>He tried to clear his head before he channeled himself into an outlet.</p>
<p>
  <em>BZZT</em>
</p>
<p>—_—_</p>
<p>Caitlin’s days had consisted more or less of just staring out the window and eating, and making Iris eat when she wouldn’t listen to Barry.</p>
<p>So, in the dead of night, while she sat with her knees against her chest on the couch, the television switching on by itself started her.</p>
<p>“EEP!”</p>
<p>
  <em>FWOOIISSH</em>
</p>
<p>The sound woke Barry and Iris, the former speeding over to make sure she was all right.</p>
<p>“What happened? Did you see something?” He asked before he noticed the lit screen.</p>
<p>Iris slowly followed him over, stumbling over her own feet a little.</p>
<p>The screen was a blank white for a few moments, and Caitlin thought some kind of weird breaker trip had been the culprit.</p>
<p>Until a familiar face showed up on the screen.</p>
<p>“Scotty.”</p>
<p>Scott’s face was onscreen, his mask over his eyes. He looked exhausted.</p>
<p><em>”Citizens of Central City, this is Surge.”</em> She could even hear it in his voice that his experiences hadn’t gone well since they’d been separated, <em>”Over the past five days, our city has been ravaged by a highly infectious, incredibly dangerous virus.”</em></p>
<p>He almost choked on his words, clearing his throat before he continued, <em>”The majority of the city has been completely overrun by infected individuals, and as sorry as I am to say this... we can’t be your heroes this time.”</em></p>
<p>“I’ve got a bad feeling about this...” Barry muttered, wrapping a comforting arm around Iris’ shoulders.</p>
<p><em>”Myself, The Flash, and the other metahumans you’ve trusted in protecting you these past six years are not enough... and that leaves us only one option.”</em> he looked down, shaking his head before looking at the screen again, <em>”In twenty-four hours, the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator will come online. Roughly twelve minutes later, the resulting collision will detonate, and Central City will be destroyed.”</em></p>
<p>Caitlin covered her hand with her mouth.</p>
<p><em>”I urge any citizens capable of rational thought, to flee the city before it’s too late. Get as far away from city limits as you can, because we won’t be able to save you...”</em> Scott blinked away tears, looking down again before reaching up and pulling off his mask. He looked at the screen once more, <em>”My name is Scott Storm... and I am so sorry we failed you.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>bzzzzzzt</em>
</p>
<p>The screen changed to static as the feed cut, leaving the trio to dwell in what their friend had just told them, and the rest of the city.</p>
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